Oliver Davis
by hueri
Summary: The Queen hired her services to assassinate the young man called Oliver Davis, a Baron who was quite famous for his published books. Mai too was a fan of his works, but being an orphan, money was money.
1. Oliver Davis

**Oliver Davis.**

The Queen hired her services to assassinate the young man called Oliver Davis, a Baron who was quite famous for his published books. Mai too was a fan of his works, but money was money. It was the young man's fault in the first place, harboring affections for a royalty.

After all, who in their right mind would fall in love with a lady who was already meant to be for some other man. She snorted as she sat in the corner of the study, where she was far enough that she couldn't hear the young lovers, but close enough to keep an eye on them.

She slumped in the seat, totally forgetting that she should act proper as nobody except the lovers were in the room. She leaned her head on her elbows, thinking how she would be able to kill the young Baron.

When she finished with him, she would be rich. She no longer had to scrape money from killing people and she would be able to leave the black market. Not that she ever intended to be in there the first place, she had just been running away from the orphanage where she had no fond memories of.

As a kid, she had always been bullied. Maybe it's because she was a foreigner in the land, because she was Japanese and not English. It was stupid, she only ever know two Japanese words; Taniyama Mai, and she doesn't even know what it means.

Returning to the current problem, it was almost close to sunrise and she had to take the princess back in the palace before the guards notice she's gone. Glancing at the lovers, she hesitated. Maybe a couple more minutes.

She got up from her seat and searched for a book to distract herself, she had found one when she noticed a faint light from a distance and curiosity got the better of her. It better not be another assassin who was trying to take her prey.

Stepping in closer to the person sitting behind a desk, with his back to her, she reached out a hand on the slim blade disguised as a pin in her hair. In a swift movement, she had the blade on his throat and his head was leaning on her abdomen to further expose his neck.

She blinked and furrowed her brows at the young man she had been meaning to attack. His hair was a rich black, dark enough to be associated to blue and his eyes were a dark purple. His pale skin and lean figure was much like… "The baron?"

He had been watching her and she frowned at his expression, not one bit of surprise or panic. "I don't understand, but then who is the one...?"

"Are you done now?" He asked and she noticed how pleasant his voice was, wishing he spoke louder rather than a whisper.

Gathering her senses, she focused on who the man was and what he was doing in the library of the Baron's mansion. "Who are you?"

"Ah, wouldn't you like to know." She tightened her grip on the blade and he sighed. "You can call me Eugene Davis."

She frowned at the name, she had heard of it. The young son of the Duke Martin Davis and the Duchess Luella. What's a man of such rank doing in the house of a Baron late at night, unless?

"We are what people call twins." He said in a tone she did not like.

"I'm not stupid, I noticed that!" She meant to ask why was half of the twin titled a Baron when his father is a Duke? She distinctly remembered something about holding a land from the king, if so, how was he- Mai did not know, she wasn't even sure what to call him, is it Lord or Sir?

"And yet you still threaten me with a pin coated in poison."

"Maybe because you speak like you know everything."

"Maybe that's because I do." He looked at her straight in the eye, "And maybe because I know. Heaven knows too, why I am here at such an early hour to prevent my older brother's death."

Mai narrowed her eyes at him and he pushed away her hand, returning to his previous position and fixing his collar. "Normally, ladies would be embarrassed to touch a man they do not know."

She turned red at that. "Normally, ladies wouldn't be paid to kill someone. I'm not normal."

"No, you are not."

She did not like this Eugene guy. How could such a bubbly handsome man be related to the straight-faced smug man in front of her, she did not understand that either. Also perhaps because the man in front of her looked a lot more handsome to her eyes than Oliver does.

"Yes, I hear that a lot."

"What?"

"That I am a lot more handsome than my brother." He smirked, "Though we are twins, we are nothing alike at all."

"Because he's the charming one who snagged the princess of England and you're the gloomy one who has to rely on his parents to get him a wife." Mai retorted, returning her weapon to her hair. Eugene was not the one she was supposed to kill. She would, if he keeps being smug.

"I do not need my parents to get me a woman."

Entirely unconvinced, she gathered up her skirt and moved to return to the lovers. "Sure, you do not."

"I say I have charmed you already."

Mai looked completely aghast as she turned to the young man. She stepped towards him and poked a finger to his chest repeatedly. "You, sir, are very narcissistic. Perhaps you may be handsome but you do not charm me the least bit."

"You do think I'm handsome."

Mai threw her hands up in the air and didn't bother to reply. The sun was rising and she had to take the princess back to the palace.

\- Line Break -

"I am going to get killed before I kill the baron," she complained as she made tea for the lovers in the sitting room. The door was completely wide open so she could see that they aren't doing anything inappropriate. Taking twin tea cups, elegantly ornate, she lifted the matching teapot and placed them in a tray.

"I might mourn for you." She almost jumped up in surprise at the tall man leaning on the door. "But that would be after I celebrate the fact that my brother is still breathing."

She frowned as he took the tray from her and poured himself some of the tea. "I haven't placed anything in there, in case you haven't noticed, the princess will be drinking from the same pot."

He said nothing except look at the cup on his hand appreciatively right after he took a sip. He was silent as he finished the cup and poured himself another.

"Although if you're planning on finishing the entire pot and make me do another one, I'm not going to think twice about putting poison in your brother's cup."

He did not say anything once again and shrugged as he left with a cup on his hand.

Several hours had passed and she had been reading a book when he stood behind her and demanded another cup of tea.

"No. I'm not a maid, you have plenty of people to ask to make you tea in this mansion and I'm sure they make better tea than I do."

"They do not know I'm here."

"I'm an assassin, I do not make tea for people less they are related to my case or my friends."

"We talk to each other in daily basis, is that not enough to call us friends?"

She gave him a pointed look, trying to see if he was serious. And then she remembered she wouldn't know because his face was always straight and void of any emotion beside smugness.

"We've only spoke for four days, no that does not make us friends."

"Shame, you'll make me tea or my brother will know you are after his life."

She groaned, would it be that bad to kill Eugene before Oliver? She set her book aside and she did not bother to look him in the face, she knew there would be a smirk playing in his lips.

"I utterly despise you, Eugene Davis."

"You and I both." He said with a fresh cup of tea in his hands and the teapot on the other.

\- Line Break -

The Queen had threatened her to get her job done and she will. She had spent an entire week trying to decide what to do and how to do it.

"Do hurry up, you're delaying my rendezvous." The smiling princess said. Mai followed after her and she knew that if anyone else had seen a Japanese doll, they would have thought that the princess was not English descent at all.

She knew Masako isn't. The king had been, in a word 'barren'. He was unable to produce a child and so the queen had taken a concubine, a half-Japanese lord who she had met more than once before. The princess was not a bastard as the king himself had many mistress and harbors only love towards his only daughter, but never in the history of royalty had a queen taken a lover, so it was better if her origins were kept hidden.

"Princess," she whispered as they were led to the sitting room by a butler of the Baron's Mansion. "I do not know why you keep on meeting the baron. I heard from your mother, the queen, that you are to be with someone else."

Masako paused and looked at her with angry eyes, in an equally angry whisper that sounded more like a hiss. "Say what you want, because it's not me who has never experienced love."

"You're the princess of England, you could-" A pain in her cheek stopped her from her sentence. It took all she had to hold herself back from pouncing to the princess and pulling her hair out.

"I do not wish to speak of that ever again, and so should you." The princess sharply said and continued on. Mai rubbed her cold palm to her sore cheek and glanced at a mirror they had passed by.

The red of her cheek stood out from her slightly peachy skin and she almost pouted at how ugly it looked. Her round brown eyes had their pupil dilated from the anger she had to hold back and her short brown hair had poked out of the braid.

She looked around, the young couple had taken a seat by the large window and had their back to her but other than both, she was completely alone. She slid off the oriental hair pins from her hair with care and untangled her hair from its braids.

She focused on her pins and played with them a bit, getting lost in her thought when something cold touched the back of her neck. She stiffened and spun around quickly, the pinnacle of her needle hovering a few centimeters from pale skin. She narrowed her eyes at the tall man hovering over her and let her hand fall limp to her side as the other pushed his hand away from her hair.

"Eugene Davis, what the heck is wrong with you?"

"I never thought you hair was so short." He said and she noticed how his eyes watched her wavy hair curiously. "And I didn't know they were curly."

She sighed, hurrying to put her hair back to its braids. "My hair isn't this short and it isn't curly, its because of the braid."

"Curious."

"Yes," she agreed. "Considering the fact that you call yourself quite a lady charmer, you should have known that."

"Most ladies don't let their hair loose in public."

"I thought we had sorted out the fact that I am not like most ladies?" Mai said as she reached for her last pin, "I am not a- do not touch that if you don't want to die- I'm not a lady."

"Hmm," he said as he reached for the pin anyway, lifting it by the head. "These pins do not look beautiful at all."

"No, because I'm not part of the Chinese dynasty." She took it from him and returned it to her hair. She sidestepped away from him and he blocked her way again.

"Tea."

"No."

"Tea."

The lovers had moved towards the other corner of the room and she pushed the noble away to reach the room. "Oh-ho?"

She looked at the hand wrapped around her wrist and back at the straight-faced man. "I want tea."

"And I need money." Mai said, slipping his hand away from her.

"You need ice for your cheek."

"You need to mind your own business."

He paused, "Fair enough."

"Look here, sir, young man, - Eugene. I was hired by someone to kill Oliver Davis, the lover of the Princess, and he happens to be your older brother. You are purposely distracting me from doing my task and I am not going to die just because I couldn't do my assignment."

"Who hired you?"

"Nice try."

"Is the person who hired you, going to kill you if you don't do your task?"

"No."

"Then who would kill you?"

She sighed, "Why would you want to know?"

He shrugged and turned around, leaving her with a headache.

\- Line Break -

"You had a month and now you have until tonight, if you cannot do it, I will ask someone else to do your job and then you will take the reward. Afterwards, I will take care of you." A sinister laugh erupted in the dark room. "It won't be painful at all."

Yeah right, that's what they always say. She stabbed the wood in front of her as she waited for the princess to get ready.

For the first time in her entire life, she had been dressed into a fine gown with soft fabric. She had cleaned herself more than usual as it would be a shame if the gown did not suit her at all. It was nice of the princess to provide her a dress.

The cloth was of light brown and creme, together in the box was a ribbon of rich blue velvet that she had tied upon her neck as her hair was too short for it.

Her employee had given her a needle filled with a poison she had never been allowed to hold, but she was aware of the instant death it would cause.

The princess left her room with a big smile. "Mai, you look beautiful."

"Thank you, princess." She curtsied, detaching herself from her new friend. "You have outdone yourself tonight, all eyes will be on you."

"And mine will only be on one." Masako sighed dreamily. "Come now, do not be a stranger."

She felt bad. She will only feel worse after she kills the baron. The princess would be a wreck and so will Eugene and his family. But Mai had never had that problem before, she had only always been assigned people who were already dying or rich people who had no family. She finished her job fast and that has always been an excuse for her to free herself from guilt.

She entered the ballroom from below as the princess descended the stairs and she searched for Oliver. The thing that distinguished him from Eugene was his long hair tied in a low ponytail and that he was a little bit built bigger than his lean younger brother.

Mai found him watching the princess with love struck eyes and she made her way to him.

"Mai."

Groaning from the impact of her nose bumping onto a chest and several buttons, she rubbed her throbbing nose in displeasure.

"Do not do anything."

She looked up at the warning eyes of Eugene Davis. "You again."

"Me again." He repeated and leaned down to her, causing her to lean away as much as she could with his arm around her waist. "Wait a while and you will see, all your efforts will go to waste."

"What?" She asked.

"Tonight, the queen is going to announce who your princess is engaged to."

"You know who?"

"To Eugene Davis."

Mai's mouth fell open in surprise, "to you?"

"To Eugene Davis," he repeated. Mai pushed him away from her in disbelief.

"The princess is engaged to you and yet you gave your brother false hope?"

"Mai-"

"Why would you do that? I thought you cared for your brother! You made me hesitate and doubt myself if I should really kill him and yet you-"

"My name is Oliver Davis."

"No, you said you were Eugene."

"I said you could call me Eugene. I never said it was my name." He pointed out. "I'm the youngest son of the Duke, Oliver Davis and Eugene Davis is my older twin."

Mai frowned, she was getting confused. He was right, he had told her to call him Eugene and when she said she despised Eugene, he had agreed with her. So now that she was convinced that the one in front of her was the Baron Oliver Davis, did that mean it was him she had to kill and present to the queen?

"No, you do not have to kill me." He said, "The reason why the queen wanted to kill my brother was because her highness thought that he would get in the way of who the princess was engaged to. And now that she knows that the princess had been seeing the Duke's son, her intended, she no longer needs you to kill anyone."

"No." Mai whispered in horror, "But what about the money?"

"You won't get any from-"

"You don't understand," Mai said, looking around the crowd. Everything was spinning, her plans were ruined and now she had no choice but to run away. Run away, now.

Oliver tightened his grip on her elbows, "Where are you going?"

She struggled to push him away but it was futile. She gave up and leaned her forehead on his chest in defeat. "Oliver, if I don't turn over any money by midnight, he will come after me. He will bound me to him or he will kill me, I don't know. I can run away, but I can never get away from him."

"You need the money to buy your freedom?"

"He finally gave me a chance to."

"How much was the queen planning to pay you?"

Mai glanced up at him, his eyes so serious she couldn't refuse to answer.

\- Line Break -

"Mai, tea."

Taniyama Mai moved away from the large windows and turned to face her new employer. She didn't know how he did it but he had managed to convince the Queen (with the help of his twin and the princess) to somehow pay Mai for her services.

And it was more than enough to pay her previous employer. She was free and yet she had nowhere to go, so Oliver Davis took her in. She didn't know why yet, but perhaps it was because they were friends and the young lovers had helped her in convincing Oliver. All she had been asked to do was make him tea, besides that, he had asked for nothing more.

Masako gave her clothes, nothing like the dark gowns she used to own and she swore to herself she will never again wear dark clothes again. Save for the beatiful dark ribbon she wore on her neck.

She poured the baron a cup of tea and sat in front of him as he worked with some papers. "Why did you switch positions anyway?"

He placed his pen down and took the tea. "No one was to know that the princess and her intended were seeing each other as the agreement between our parents and the Queen forbade them to. They had met once, and had fallen in love with each other."

"That's all?" Mai asked, "You can't fall in love with someone after meeting them once."

"Can't they?"

"No," she disagreed. "It's simply illogical."

"Is it?" He asked and she frowned at his short responses. "I'm glad you're wearing the ribbon around your neck, I knew it would suit you."

Mai snapped her head up at the smirking baron and turned red. "You- You tricked me!"

"I never said it wasn't from me."

"Eugene saw me wearing it, so did the princess! As have your parents!" She was completely flustered. "They could be thinking anything!"

"Aren't you glad you're living with someone handsome for the rest of your life?"

"Rest of my life…?" She trailed. If possible she had turned into an even darker shade of red. "You narcissistic- NARU!"

 **Note:** What did I just… Okay, wow. Weird, right? Reviews would be lovely!


	2. Taniyama Mai

**Taniyama Mai.**

Love. It was simply a mixture of different kinds of hormones rushing into the brain or a simple bug in the neural circuit. That is to say, Oliver Davis did not believe in what his brother called 'Love.'

He will never truly understand how that worked and that was saying something, since he claims himself to be knowledgeable of a lot of things. At a young age, he knows that his ancestors are closely related to the royal family thus they were given the title Duke. And he also had a close relative who was titled a baron, and died recently with no heirs, therefore as the best candidate, he had been chosen to take over it.

He also knows that his older twin brother, Eugene Davis, is betrothed to the royal princess of England without his consent as it was decided by birth to ensure the royal line.

So when he and his brother went by the market to buy new books and came across a raven-haired lady, his brother had decided that he would pursue the lady. At first, he did not have a clue as who the lady was, but he had agreed with himself that it would be interesting to watch what was going to happen and how it would happen.

" _Please_ , Noll." Eugene begged him when his parents would not allow him to see the unknown lady, "I know that the lady we have come upon that day is the one truly meant for me. I love her the moment my eyes set upon her."

"What do you want me to do?" He asked his brother. "If you would meet her, people would recognize you."

"You! You're a baron. No one knows how you look like except for your butler."

"That's not going to work."

"It will, brother mine, trust me."

And so they found the raven lady. They would meet every day, even in the most random hours and he would sit there with them, in the library, at the farthest corner. Concealed to them, but not them to him.

Oliver thought it was rather interesting when a few months later, the raven haired lady introduced to his brother a petite brunette who stood out in the dim-lit library. She looked every bit foreign but that was not the reason she stood out, no. It was because something about her reminded him of a tigress waiting to attack a prey.

"I'm Taniyama Mai." Surprisingly, her voice did not sound like it was accented. Rather, it was a very fluent English. "I am a lady-in-waiting for the Princess Masako. It's rather unbecoming for a princess to keep meeting someone without a chaperone."

Very suspicious for a foreigner to attend to a Princess. Oliver knew along the past few weeks that the raven haired lady was the princess, he recognized the name of his brother's fiance.

"Princess? Masako…?"

"Yes. I hope you do not see me differently because of my lie."

"I love you very much. That will never change."

His brother was doing well, so he turned his attention to the brunette. Her dress was a dark shade of red, almost close to black and it had no ribbons nor lace. Her hair, although it was up and proper, was neither decorated with diamonds nor brooch but several sticks with a round ornate head. He recognized one as a jade and figured it must not be of his country.

The first few minutes, she stood and watched the couple until his brother allowed her to entertain herself with a book and she easily obliged. Running a hand on the spines of the books she found interesting, she finally picked one he had already read several times.

It was the Strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. His brother had given that to him long before and among the other novels his twin had given him, it was far by the most interesting he had received.

She sat by the table with the brightest candle, sending a narrowed gaze towards the couple before opening the book to read. And the whole time she read, he just stood there, leaning on a shelf with his arms crossed and watching her. Trying to figure out who she was.

"Taniyama Mai," He repeated. The name sounded so different to his lips, and he was almost shocked by how she whipped her head up and looked straight into his eyes. Her brown eyes like milk swimming in dark chocolate. He had been nervous, he spoke in a really soft tone and he doubt she could really see him, but he stood still nonetheless until she shrugged it off and returned reading.

Then when both the ladies left, he walked out from his spot and towards the window. He watched as both ladies lifted their long hoods over their head and disappeared in the darkness.

\- Line Break -

And two days later, he found out that the lady was from an orphanage in the far end on London although in the records, she is supposed to be dead. Lin, his closest friend, said that the Matron had said that, "The poor girl never got along with the others. They would pick her and call her names, she never gets the job done because of it and she always gets struck. One night, she just disappeared. Here on this streets, no little girl just disappears, they don't."

Now Oliver questioned how a girl of seven managed to live eleven years alone in the dark streets of London. He had no doubt that the girl was pure, so that must mean she had either learned to defend herself or that she already knew how. If she her features weren't recognized by the vendors on the day market, that must mean she had no reason to steal food. She already had a steady supply of money.

And the only possible work for a lady of no noble line or a work at all was either in the Brothel or in the dark market. Oliver knows that it wasn't the brothel so it was the dark market. She must be working for someone, either smuggling in opium or work by…

Oliver narrowed his eyes at the smiling lady who poured tea for the princess and his brother. It must be that the Queen or the King had found out that their daughter was meeting someone without their knowledge.

He was proven right when a few more days later, he was jotting down his new work when something cold and soft slithered from the back of his neck and then rested around the spot under his chin and he was forced to lean the crown of his head right on her abdomen. There was also the faint prod on his throat and noticing that her hair was one less adorned by a pin, it was a needle.

Oliver thought it was rather nice to be able to see her eyes closer, to see her closer. Now he could see that they were big and round, like a doll and the feel of her fingers around his neck, although threatening his life, were slender and clean.

He was amused by her confusion, but answered all her questions nevertheless. When asked who he was, he simply told her to call him Eugene Davis.

\- Line Break -

Teasing her deemed to be fun, and she made the most delicious tea he had ever drank. That must be because Lin and Eugene made them too sweet, and his parents made them too strong. He would demand her for tea and she would always complain as she make one for him.

Some days, he wondered how he managed without ever drinking her tea. Some days also, she would complain to him about how daft the princess could be, to fall for a baron when she could possibly be engaged to a prince from another country.

Oliver found out that she was desperate for money, and that was the reason she stayed in the black market. She didn't tell him, he found out himself. Whether it was because she needed it to support herself or to leave the country, he did not know. He most especially did not want to know it was the latter of the two.

The day she sported a flaming red cheek, he found out that she was close to her breaking point. She was torn between doing her job, or letting her new-found friend keep her happiness even for only a while. He found out that it wasn't that she was needing the money for herself in the material sense nor to flee from England. It was to save her life.

And he knew that her deadline was nearing.

\- Line Break -

He was back in his parent's home and he would remain there for the next two days. Eugene had already informed the princess and she had told him she understood as she too was busy for the upcoming ball.

Now he was sitting in the front room in his bedroom and waiting for his parents to summon him. Of course he knew what they were speaking about in his father's study, they were breaking the news to Eugene and possibly to him too right after they told his brother.

It was odd that his parents thinks it was wise to tell him three days prior to the official betrothal rather than a few weeks, months, years earlier. But it was fine too, because he had met the foreigner who made very delicious tea that he couldn't quite get enough of.

On that point, the grand ball was coming and his family and he (as Baron) was invited in both separate invitations, therefore he cannot simply say he lost both and could not attend. If Oliver was coming, perhaps the tea-making-assassin would be there too. Recalling all the times he met her and all the dark (sorry excuse) of a gown she owned, she would most likely stand out in the crowd.

He knew the girl will not dress nicely at all and his mother would be more than happy to fulfill his first request of the year. It will do nicely, plus he still had the leftover cloth he kept from his previous suit and he knew it would look better on her than the poison-coated needles ever will.

He will just have to ask Eugene to tell his fiance to lie for him.

A knock on the door brought his attention away from his thoughts and he shut the open book in his hands. Shame. He stood up and opened the door, following his distraught twin brother towards his father's study.

\- Line Break -

Being called 'Naru' was fine with Oliver, after all it almost sounded like his nickname. But being told what it was short for was certainly a different matter. He was in no way narcissistic, he did not think of himself that highly.

And Taniyama Mai was a completely difficult matter, he had indirectly told her that he fell in love with her at first sight and after that, he had outright proposed to her but she did not seem to understand that he just did. He clearly told her that she would be living with him for the rest of her life, but she had changed the meaning entirely.

So his father told him to take it slow, and perhaps take her somewhere. Make her understand what he meant. Oliver frowned at that thought, he liked being straight to the point, if Mai did not understand he was proposing then he would just tell her straight up.

"Mai." He called the petite lady. He had been watching her for some time as he had been lost in his thoughts while staring at her. Being tormented to watch her as her eyes moved away from the book, she peeked through her lashes to tell him she was listening. He sighed, "Will you-"

"Sure." Mai smiled, closing her book and standing up.

"What?" Oliver frowned, watching her. "Where are you going?"

"Well, you were going to ask for tea were you not?"

"Tea," he repeated and the girl laughed, shaking her head and disappearing behind the door. Oliver frowned, massaging the bridge between his nose. She didn't even let him finish.

The next few days, he was busy as he was preparing all the papers and bring them to the publishing company and have them checked by a friend of his who came to England as a trader. Yasuhara Osamu came right on time as he heard the knocker from across the hall.

He stood up to open the door and greet him himself when Mai beat him to it.

"Hello," Osamu said as he smiled at the small lady. Yasuhara bowed low and took her hand. "Yasuhara Osamu, my lady."

"Oh," Mai softly exclaimed as she looked at Oliver, troubled. He gave her a shrug that meant he won't help and she glared at him, an expression she might have used to her countless cases of assassination. I'm Taniyama Mai, pleasure."

"A Japanese?" He asked.

"Yes," she replied. "Your name sounds as funny as mine, are you like me too?"

Oliver watched as his friend met his eyes and grinned widely, raising his eyebrows. The Japanese man was well educated unlike he who did not need to study to prove that he was smarter than the others of his age so Oliver did not doubt the young Japanese lad knew what was going on.

"I'm very glad to see a familiar face," Yasuhara said.

"But I've never-"

"Ahh, tut tut, _mi amiga._ " Oliver did not know how he and the Japanese scholar were still friends. "I'm a Japanese who was born from a high-end family and got disowned when I was caught by my dearest father co-habiting with the chauffer in the far end room at the house." By now, Oliver wanted to laugh at the _very_ confused look Mai had sent to his direction. "I've got a good sum of money with me and took it upon myself to further educate myself and I've learn from the long run that you, my little rose, are the object of my friend's att-"

"Osamu," he decided to cut in before the man could finish his sentence. Mai looked at him completely relieved then turned to Yasuhara, completely guilty.

"I'm terribly sorry, but I don't- didn't really understand…"

"Do not you worry, I was just fooling around." Yasuhara laughed, "Although the point was it's nice to finally see another Japanese and to finally know that Noll has finally-"

"The papers are in my study, take them and leave." Oliver frowned at his friend, evidently, his friend also caught on exactly what he was thinking of. "And it will do nicely if you keep your thoughts to yourself the moment you step inside."

It took two cups of tea for Oliver to finally convince Yasuhara to leave without anymore dilly-dallying and messing with Mai. When the dark haired man left, Oliver was once again in want of tea.

His needs were answered when a cup of tea was set in his desk and the petite lady stood before him with big curious eyes. "Did he really co-habit with the chauffer?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Mai." Taking the cup of tea, he watched as the former assassin frown in confusion. "Yasuhara Osamu is merely a very rich scholar from Japan who has multiple side interests."

"He is very interesting," she said.

"Would you like me to call him again?"

"NO!" Oliver chuckled as she turned an alluring shade of red, "No. I'm sure he's a very nice person but I don't think I could handle that much talk."

"What kinds of talk can you handle?"

"Well, mostly anything as long as they are sane."

"Hmm. And your definition of sane?"

"What? Well… As long as its believable, I guess."

"Very good." Oliver had heard everything he needed to hear. "Well then, will you marry me?"

The silence that followed right after he spoke was deafening and although he loved silence, he would much rather hear her response to his question. The lady before him stood very still as she processed what he said.

When she met his eyes, he was fully aware of what she would say next. Her lonely brown eyes looked dejected. "Are you trying to get rid of me? Was it because of the tea? Is it bad? I can make you another one."

"Mai, I'm not talking about the tea." Oliver stood up and approached her shaking figure.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I can't help it. It's just, I thought that you would… I thought that we were friends."

"You're the only one who thinks we're friends." Oliver sighed, "the others do not think the same way."

"What about you?"

"Neither do I."

"I understand."

He watched as her shoulders fell and her head bent low. "Do you really? Mai, I'm asking you if you would marry me."

"You don't have to repeat that, I'm leaving." Mai crossed her arms. "You know, if you really did think of me as a friend, you would have told me to leave straight up. You didn't have to go around following some novel to tell me you wanted me to go."

Ah, so that was why. She must think he was trying to pull off a sketch, it must have been one of the books he had never touch among the pile of other romance novels his twin gave him. He had been looking to donate them but it was too much work to do therefore he left them in a smaller empty room in neat stacks on the floor.

Oliver took it upon himself to hold her face to ensure she was looking straight into his eyes. "I'm not getting rid of you, and you won't be able to get rid of me either. I asked you to live with me because I can't stand the thought of you leaving me behind. . Marry. Me. Mai."

The look on her face was priceless. And Oliver knew she finally understood his reasons, and he was going to be smug about it. Even when she refuses to answer his proposal.

For now.

 **Note:** I hated the ending, but anyway, this is it. The second part of the one shot. This will be it. Thank you very much for the reviews! It makes my stomach all jittery reading them. There may or may not be more chapters in the future when it reach a certain number of reviews.


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